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Elizabeth Fahey- When you choose a wall to climb- choose a high one - The Great Wall!

ELIZABETH FAHEY

 

 

 

Elizabeth Fahey has worked in New Zealand and internationally including Eastern/Western Europe, Middle East, Asia and the UK. She is one of those  well travelled experts who work with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, and psychometric testing and evaluation. While she does not read minds she is getting closer. She's has been involved in lots of change with companies. Her experience in  IT, telecoms, legal, property development, PR, medical and retail industries makes her very qualified to help companies (and people) deal with change. She tells us how she goes about achieving her personal goals.

Elizabeth was interviewed recently by Jo Mills our Career Analyst and resident powerblogger on LiveMyGoals.com
 
 
1. An interview with:
Elizabeth Fahey
 
  
2. My Own Company
HR Consulting – coaching people to achieve their goals, change management, performance management and HR projects implementation 
 
3. My interests:
  •  Wine!
  • The beach especially when there’s no-one else there
  • Hanging out with my fabulous girlfriends and laughing until my stomach hurts
  • Making a difference to someone’s life (sounds corny I know but its great to get feedback that someone has made a positive change to their life because of you) 
 
4. The roles that I play:
Boss of everything!
 
I’m the owner/director of Power Stanfield, a very cool Auntie , a great friend and ( wait for it …) the Vice President of Public Relations at OnAir Toastmasters - a very grand title for ‘chief party organiser’ 
 
 
5. List a few of your recent accomplishments that you are proud of:
 
  • Starting my business
  • Completing the Great Wall of China Marathon
  • Buying a house
  • Writing the first in a series of PS – Do you need help…? hr help guides for SME businesses
 
6. How do you celebrate them?
Each one was different – the marathon for example was a really looong shower ( no bath in our hotel in China) and a massage followed by a really big dinner! 
 
 
 
7. I am busy at the moment doing:
  • More writing – part way through writing ‘Change management made simple – a guide for NZ businesses’
  • Developing my client base and looking to recruit a new consultant
  • Trying to upholster an armchair! 
 
8. My big hairy audacious goal this year is to:
 
Get Power Stanfield to front of mind for all SME businesses when they have an HR challenge!
 
 
 
9. I knew I was onto something when:
 
One of my coachees received the ‘marketing person of the year’ award after having difficulties within her team over the previous year.
 
 
10. My secret for getting things done is to:
 
Oh dear – I am a procrastinator but I’m also a list person so the two seem to balance each other out. Going for a walk always motivates me to get onto things when I get back into the office.
 
 
11. My darkest hour was when:
I hit the wall on the Wall! 4 hours into the marathon on the 2nd time over the wall I couldn’t move another step
 
  
12. I came through it by:
 
Positive self talk and the great people around me.
 
 
13. I came up with the idea for my business
 
...when I realized I wasn’t enjoying my work/life and needed to make a change.
 
 
 
 
14. How old were you when you first had the idea?
30 – but I heard that Mother Theresa was 45 or so before she became Mother Theresa so there was plenty of time.
 
15. How many businesses / ideas have you tried before this one?
 
This is it unless you count selling apples when I was 10 
 
 
16. What do you do to cope with stress?
Breathe! Take a few deep breaths and then if that doesn’t work try - wine!
I walk a lot and have also worked really hard at trying to stop my mind from constantly rehashing things.   Keeping problems in perspective really helps to minimize the impact of stressful situations.
 
 
17. How many hours do you work each week?
It varies. At the moment I have a great work/life balance and probably work about 30 hours but still earn the same as I did working in a corporate.
 
  
18. What do you do when things aren’t going your way?
Take a step back and contemplate the reason for it. Is it something I can change? Do I need to try a different approach or should I actually walk away?
 
19. What is the most important piece of advice you’d give to people who are struggling to create a positive change in their lives?
 
‘It is never to late to be what you might have been’ George Elliot
 
Change is an ongoing part of life but perseverance is the key and constantly reminding yourself of your goals and why you want to make the changes in the first place. Enlist the help of positive people to give you encouragement when things don’t seem to be as bright and shiny as they could be. Also, don’t try and do everything all at once. How do you eat an elephant?
 
20. What is the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn in life/business?
 
People are not always nice nor trustworthy. 
 
 
21. What separates successful people from unsuccessful people?
Self belief and perserverance 
 
 
22. Do you have any daily rituals that help you keep focused and in the right mental state to succeed?
 
 No. each day is different.
 
 
 
23. What was your working background before you started what you are doing now?
HR Manager -the people business– working in corporates in NZ and internationally throughout UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia 
 
 
24. Do you have any school/study qualifications?
 
BSc and Diploma in HR Management, MBTI and SHL assessment
 
 
 
 
25. What are the three most important personal qualities you’ve had to develop to become a successful business person?
  • Self belief
  • Tenacity
  • Courage 
 
27. What are the three most important skills that you would advise up and coming youngsters to develop?
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Self belief
  • Self motivation
  • Initiative ( that’s four but its important) 
 
28. How do you know when you’ve found a good idea?
 
For me it was a gut feeling – it felt right and I started getting business almost immediately. 
 
 
29. Do you have a formal goal setting process?
Yes. Once a year I get together with 3 others and we follow a formal process of reviewing what we have achieved in the previous year, acknowledging the good and the not so good and set our goals for the following year. We also pick one goal at a time which someone in the group can support us with and/or hold us accountable for. Its great to be able to start crossing off the goals achieved as the year progresses.
 
By writing it down it reminds you of a) what you need to do but also b) what great things you have already done.
 
 
30. Have you ever been scared in your role/business? What did you do about it?
Yes – all the time. Mostly because a lot of what I am doing from a business sense is new. I have found having a network of people in various stages of business development really helpful as someone has Always come up against your problem /issue/challenge in the past and the majority are more than willing to share their guidance and support.
 
 
31. What comes first...success or confidence?
I think they develop together
 
32. How do you build confidence if you’re not a confident person?
 
Breathe. Surround yourself with people who will provide you an honest but supportive critique but most of all go out there and DO IT. Nothing builds confidence like a success. Make it little baby steps to start with always pushing yourself a little out of your comfort zone. Alternatively close your eyes, take a deep breath and then just jump – whats the worst that can happen?
  
  
33. The Parting Shot: When I feel frustrated that things are not coming together as I wish, I proceed to:
 
Think about where I want to be in five years time!
 

What will be your "great wall of China?" Have you set yourself a big hairy audacious goal recently?

 

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posted on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 1:53 PM | Filed Under [ goalgetters ]

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